COMPASS

Programme Areas

Mental health

Programme Type

Peer / advocacy / group / family whānau support

Regions

Nelson Marlborough

Age Groups

Adult / Pakeke, Older adult / Kaumātua

Referral Types

Self referral

Referral Process

Contact us on (03) 548 2798 ext 6 or Freephone 0800 212 798

Description

COMPASS provides Advocacy and Peer Support Services for people using or who have used mental health services and require support accessing services in the community.

A COMPASS advocate can help you to:

• Gain and understand information regarding your situation and what to expect from services
• Explore options to assist making choices
• Communicate your needs and wishes
• Have your rights acknowledged and upheld
• Access services to which you are entitled
• Use the complaint procedures
• Feel you are not alone & someone is on your side to support
• Put in place an advanced directive

Peer Support is about people who have recovered from mental distress walking alongside tangata whaiora in their recovery journeys. Peer support offers a fundamentally different model of supporting people to make sense of their experiences. It can provide people with opportunities to find new ways and strategies to respond. Peer support relationships validate the reality of a person's experience outside the context of "illness" or diagnosis. Rather it is built on mutual aid and understanding. The peer support model challenges the "problem" approach and focuses on discovering and creating innovative and alternative resources, solutions and strategies.